Montero Sharp Despite Rain, Homeruns Lead Offense, Black Saves the Game After a Full Night's Rest

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

May 4, 2014

Rafael Montero @ Mark Rogers

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	LOB
Las Vegas	1	0	1	3	0	0	2	X	X		7	7	2	9
Tacoma	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	X	X		5	6	1	3

MiLB.com boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Montero – 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 6 SO, 98 pitches, 63 strikes (64%), 20 batters faced, 4 ground outs, 4 fly outs, gave up a hit and walk in the 6^th that both ended up scoring

Black (S, 2) – 1 IP, SO, 13 pitches

Batters

Flores – 1-3, R, 3 RBI (19), HR (4), BB

Allen – 2-2, 2 R, RBI (2), HR (1), 2 BB

Brown – 1-3, R, 3 RBI (12), HR (4), BB

Astro's Play By Play

Recap

            The weather in Tacoma this past Sunday was pretty crazy, cycling through mist, rain, hard rain and bright sunshine as the 51s and Rainiers (appropriate name) tried to get a double header of baseball in. Unfortunately, they weren’t even able to finish the first game, which had to be suspended in the top of the 7^th, and finished the next evening before starting the final game of the series (recap to follow). Rafael Montero managed to pitch a pretty solid game despite the occasional rain, which might be responsible for some of the control problems experienced by both sides Sunday. With rain falling some in the top of the 1^st, Rainiers pitcher Mark Rogers walked four straight batters to plate a run, though limited other damage. It started coming down harder in the bottom of the 6^th as the Rainiers made a nice comeback to tie the game (two walks in the inning), and was obviously raining hard enough to suspend the game mid-inning in the top of the 7^th, when Allen led off with a walk before scoring on Andrew Brown’s 4^th HR since returning to AAA.

            It was a very encouraging start through five for Montero, who had only given up a run on two infield singles, an error and a sac fly in the 2^nd. After 23 pitches to get through that 2^nd inning, he bounced back for pitch counts of 14, 13, 16 the next three innings, only giving up a walk to Endy Chavez, which was erased by a double play. I get that the Mets are trying to limit his pitch count and total innings still, but it would’ve been nice to see whether he bounces back in the 6^th inning. Also, if the Mets want to use him in the pen later in the season, why not let him go deeper early in the season? Montero went a combined 155.1 IP in 2013, which means he could get bumped to the 190 IP range this season, and he’s only on pace for about 165 IP right now. I know pitch counts are more important, just something to keep an eye on.

            After the 1^st inning run mentioned, the 51s offense was fueled by three bombs; they were a grand slam shy of the HR cycle. The Wilmer HR was his third of the series, and appeared to be hit the farthest of the three, bouncing off far end of this little building ~15-20 feet behind the LF wall – similar place to where the tents at Shea Stadium were located behind the bullpens. If he starts hitting, there is no reason the Mets shouldn’t try him at SS for the big league club - check out the nice diving stop he made in the play-by-play notes. Andrew Brown has been red hot since he put on a 51s uniform, and he’s been doing a very good job patrolling RF, which was less expected from me – I hope he gets another major league chance some day somewhere.

            Jeff Walters came in for the 51s and couldn’t put out the fire, even though it was raining. Because for Walters, when it rains, it pours, as he’s given up 9 ER over 1.2 IP and three appearances, but only 1 ER in his other 9.1 appearances over nine appearances. Vic Black came in for the 9^th and his mechanics looked about as consistent as I’ve seen this season (not the most trained eye dealing with sometimes poor camera angles), retiring the side in order on 13 pitches to get the save.